Strategies reported used by instructors to address student alternate conceptions in chemical equilibrium

This study explores general‐chemistry instructors' awareness of and ability to identify and address common student learning obstacles in chemical equilibrium. Reported instructor strategies directed at remediating student alternate conceptions were investigated and compared with successful, literature‐based conceptual change methods. Fifty‐two volunteer general chemistry instructors from 50 U.S. colleges and universities completed an interactive web‐based instrument consisting of open‐ended questions, a rating scale, classroom scenarios, and a demographic form. Survey respondents who provided responses or described remediation strategies requiring further clarification were identified (n = 6); these respondents amplified their views in separate, researcher‐led semistructured phone interviews. All 52 responding chemistry instructors reported and identified common student areas of difficulty in chemical equilibrium. They reported employing a variety of strategies to address and attempt to remediate students' alternate conceptions; however, these self‐reported strategies rarely included all four necessary conditions specified by Posner, Strike, Hewson, and Gertzog (Science Education, 66, 211–217, 1982) to stimulate conceptual change. Instructor‐identified student alternate conceptions were congruent with literature‐reported alternate conceptions of chemical equilibrium, thus providing validation support for these compilations. Implications for teaching and further research are also highlighted. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 1112–1134, 2005     

How to make guided discovery learning practical for student teachers

Many innovative teaching approaches lack classroom impact because teachers consider the proposals impractical. Making a teaching approach practical requires instrumentality (procedures), congruence (local fit), and affordable cost (limited time and resources).This paper concerns a study on the development and effects of a participatory design based teacher training trajectory aimed at making guided discovery learning (GDL) practical for student biology teachers. First, we identified practical heuristics for designing GDL lessons by analyzing design protocols made by biology teachers who are experts in GDL. Next we inventoried student responses to their regular lessons and to GDL based lessons. Based on this we prepared a teacher training program for eleven student biology teachers in which they applied the heuristics and stepwise extended their teaching repertoire in the direction of GDL. The participants’ design processes and resulting lesson plans were scored on both use of design heuristics and GDL characteristics. The participants were interviewed about their motivational beliefs before and after the program. Results showed that student teachers are able to design GDL lessons and used the heuristics to design GDL lessons. Their motivation for implementing GDL in their classroom had increased substantially. The paper concludes with a critical reflection on our method of participatory design and its applicability.     

语文教师开发课程资源的策略

开发和利用语文课程资源是广大语文教育工作者,尤其是一线语文教师的一项重要任务.语文教师开发课程资源首先要树立明确的课程资源意识,这是改变语文教育现状的需要,是语文学科自身发展的需要,是提高语文课程资源利用效率的需要,也是语文教师专业化发展的需要.语文教师还要形成正确的课程资源观,了解课程资源的层次,避免将课程资源泛化.在此基础上,语文教师必须提高课程资源开发能力,包括拓宽备课中的预设性课程资源、关注课堂上的生成性课程资源、积累教学后的反思性课程资源.     

What student teachers learn about multicultural education from their cooperating teachers

Teacher education has struggled to better prepare beginning teachers for an increasingly diverse student population. This research examines the role that cooperating teachers play in developing multicultural/equity pedagogy knowledge and skills among student teachers. Five cooperating teachers working in California, USA, each of whom had extensive and successful experiences teaching multicultural/equity pedagogy curricula, were asked to describe how they encourage their student teachers to engage in the materials and strategies they promote. Generally, the cooperating teachers reported that their most successful student teachers were those who came to understand the difference between expecting high-quality work from their students and sympathizing and identifying with their students’ plight as low-income Latino children. More specifically, they noted that student teachers had difficulty leading instructional conversations in small groups of students.     

Engaging student teachers in meaningful reflective practice

This paper examines the use of peer-videoing in the classroom as a tool to promote reflective practice among student teachers. Twenty pre-service teachers from a variety of subject disciplines participating in a Post-Graduate Diploma in Education programme in an Irish university participated in the study. The practice of encouraging student teachers working in the same school to participate in structured video analysis avoids the impact of external observers whose role is largely evaluative and endorses a collaborative model that promotes dialogue and shared learning. This practice promotes a culture of observation and critical dialogue in a profession which has traditionally been characterised by isolation, while at the same time fostering and validating the voice and experience of the student teacher. Locating the discussion within the framework of the theoretical literature on reflective practice, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to the international debate over best practice in supporting, encouraging and scaffolding reflective practice. It comments on the implications of reflective dialogue for the modernisation of teacher education and offers guidelines on how best to scaffold and promote reflectivity.     

女子院校的教师礼仪探析

教师是人类灵魂的工程师,担负教书育人、为人师表的神圣职责。在传承文明的同时,自己的言行也于无形中影响、熏陶着学生,成为为学生传道、授业、解惑的楷模。认真组织全体教师学习教师基本礼仪规范,端正教师的教学态度,提升教师的文明礼仪水平,让教师用自己的人格魅力去感染学生,让学生从中汲取文明礼仪的养分,使教师在校园内成为学生学习的榜样,真正达到教书育人的良好效果。